Click to Navigate to the Pages

Sunday, December 15, 2013

MAKE SURE TO RSVP FOR JANUARY 2ND BY EMAIL OR NOTE. IF YOU ARE NOT COMING TO SCHOOL AND YOU NORMALLY RIDE THE BUS, PLEASE ALSO CALL THE BUS COMPANY.

We worked on patterning, made snowflakes for our classroom tree, and worked on a gingerbread book. We read the book and then colored it. We are really working on those book reading skills! They are doing good, but practice is always great!

Tiger continued to get in trouble this week!

Monday, Tiger must have been swinging on our holiday sign but then fell down! We caught him stuck upside down. Tuesday, Tiger was up in our class tree-probably checking out our awesome snowflakes.Wednesday, Tiger was reading his book, remind friends he goes to Santa and they need to do their best!Thursday, Tiger was playing with blocks. He had a nice tower and must have run out of time to make more! We spent a lot of our week working on the St. Edward program, watching the St. Edward program, practicing our gingerbread show, and performing our gingerbread show. Students loved wearing their masks and they had a lot of fun "playing" their parts! It was a great night!Our Next reading with the stars is January 14.

Each week we watch letter videos from "Have Fun Teaching" and the students are really picking up the names of letters, formations, and the sounds of letters. Check out these videos with you child! Click HERE.

The Tuesday project of letter of the week is to decorate a letter with something that starts with the letter. This week we decorated the letter M with Mini Marshmallows. On Thursday, our letter of the week project was to read a page from our alphabet book, M is for monkey.Please visit the whole website (4k, drop down menu, Gallery) to see your child's first day photo as well as photos from through out the week. If you would like the first day photo, please email me and I can send you the digital copy.Important Notes:

Boy oh boy, did it get cold fast! Dress for the weather. Please send your child dressed for the weather as we go outside as long as it is not raining or below 0*(students are more than welcome to bring layers daily or to leave in their lockers) It may also be time to change out the change of clothes to make sure they are weather appropriate. If you send a new change of clothes, we will send the warm weather clothes in their backpacks. We go outside on TUESDAYS AND THURSDAYS, Extended day kids go out EVERY DAY.

Folders. Please be checking your child's daily folder each night. We put notes on the notebook pages in their folders as well as any notes we may have for you. Artwork is also sent home this way. As we start letter of the week, we will also start sending home homework to help reinforce the letter concept and identification. Please work on this with you child to help the students make the connection between home and school.

Also, Please check the student's Wednesday Folders. Please try to take info out and return the folder and any forms/info/payments in those folders a day or two after receiving.

Literacy Bags come home every three weeks. Students will have a week to complete the project inside and can then return the bag with completed sheets in it on TUESDAYS.

Library Books come every week. We go to library on Monday and student have the opportunity to check out a book and keep it for a week. It can be kept in their back packs or at home, but please remember to bring it on Mondays.

Sunday, December 8, 2013

Our topic this week was Welcoming the Elf on the Shelf, Winter, and St. Nick.We started our week right away meeting our Elf. Once we met him, we read his note on the board (by sounding out some letter sounds), read his book, and then: he needed a name! We took a variety of options and then we voted and graphed our choices. The one with the most votes would be our Elf's name. Tiger wins!On Monday, we also "sewed" our stockings and stamped our hands to have stockings to hang by the fire. Lacing was a little tricky, but once students got it down, they had the most adorable stockings ready for St. Nick.We also worked on making snowmen, putting three circles we cut out in size order, small on top, then middle, and then big. We then used scrap paper and a whole punch (for the first time) to decorate or snow men.

Tuesday Tiger was hanging out on our dry erase board and wrote nice in magnets. N is our letter of the week, and he was sending us a message. We worked really hard at being Nice.Wednesday, the silly geese were being sassy so Tiger was trying to tell Santa on them. The geese tried to cover it up, but we still know! "Put the geese on the naughty list!"We worked on an early reader of winter clothing and their colors and we will work on reading it in the next week. We also started reading and practicing our Reader's Theater for Reading with the Stars. We also began a measuring activity. Students need to count how many big snowflakes they are tall and then take small snowflakes around the room and measure various objects. This also worked on counting, the concept of measurement, and writing the numbers. Students are off to a great start in these areas.It is so great to see the students using the writing center to write letters to Santa and to Tiger. Any time we can get them to use writing tools, try to get letter sounds, and get the mechanics of writing (left to right, top to bottom, etc) is wonderful! Tiger takes the notes to Santa when they leave them in Tiger's mail box.Thursday, Tiger was hanging out by our stockings that were stuffed with love from St. Nick. He wanted his own stocking too!The story of St. Nick:

Nicholas' parents died when he was just a teenager. His parents left him a lot of money which made him a rich young man.

Nicholas heard about a man who had lost all his money. He had three daughters. This family was so poor they had nothing left to eat. They were very sad. A daughter washed her stockings and put them in front of the fire to dry. Then all of them went to sleep. In the morning the daughter saw a lump in her stocking. Reaching in, she found a small, heavy bag. It had gold inside! Enough to provide food for the family. Oh, how happy they were!

The next morning, another bag with gold was found. Imagine! Such joy!

And the next night, the father planned to stay awake to find out who was helping his daughters. He dozed off, but heard a small "clink" as another bag landed in the room. Quickly he jumped up and ran out the door. Who did he catch ducking around the corner?

Nicholas, the young man who lived with his uncle. "Nicholas, it is you! Thank you for helping us—I hardly know what to say!" Nicholas said, "Please, do not thank me. Do not tell others about me."

Nicholas continued helping people. He always tried to help secretly. He didn't want any attention or thanks. When there wasn't any food, he found wheat; so no one went hungry. He always helped people in trouble. All his life Nicholas showed people how to love God and care for each other.

Everyone loved Nicholas. After he died, they told stories of the good and kind things Nicholas had done. Sailors took these stories about Nicholas everywhere they went. Some of the stories were about his special care for children—helping and protecting them when danger threatened. And so more and more people learned about good, kind Nicholas. They wanted to be like him. He is an example of how we should live.

Each week we watch letter videos from "Have Fun Teaching" and the students are really picking up the names of letters, formations, and the sounds of letters. Check out these videos with you child! Click HERE.

The Tuesday project of letter of the week is to decorate a letter with something that starts with the letter. This week we decorated the letter N with noodles. On Thursday, our letter of the week project was to read a page from our alphabet book, N is for necklace.Please visit the whole website (4k, drop down menu, Gallery) to see your child's first day photo as well as photos from through out the week. If you would like the first day photo, please email me and I can send you the digital copy.Important Notes:

Boy oh boy, did it get cold fast! Dress for the weather. Please send your child dressed for the weather as we go outside as long as it is not raining or below 0*(students are more than welcome to bring layers daily or to leave in their lockers) It may also be time to change out the change of clothes to make sure they are weather appropriate. If you send a new change of clothes, we will send the warm weather clothes in their backpacks. We go outside on TUESDAYS AND THURSDAYS, Extended day kids go out EVERY DAY.

Folders. Please be checking your child's daily folder each night. We put notes on the notebook pages in their folders as well as any notes we may have for you. Artwork is also sent home this way. As we start letter of the week, we will also start sending home homework to help reinforce the letter concept and identification. Please work on this with you child to help the students make the connection between home and school.

Also, Please check the student's Wednesday Folders. Please try to take info out and return the folder and any forms/info/payments in those folders a day or two after receiving.

Literacy Bags come home every three weeks. Students will have a week to complete the project inside and can then return the bag with completed sheets in it on TUESDAYS.

Library Books come every week. We go to library on Monday and student have the opportunity to check out a book and keep it for a week. It can be kept in their back packs or at home, but please remember to bring it on Mondays.

Send in those family photos!

Next Week:Theme: Winter, GingerbreadLetter of the Week: MmSnack: Backes Family

Sunday, December 1, 2013

**Please Read!**I would like to do a St. Nick Project and an Elf on the Shelf project for the Holiday season. For St. Nick, we would be making a fire and then "sewing" a stocking in which we will hang by the fire. We will then await a St. Nick Gift on Thursday December 5. For Elf on the Shelf, we will name our elf and find what trouble he gets into when we are not in the room. We would also watch the Elf on the Shelf video, write him letters, and more. These activities would be educational and fun, but I need to make sure it does not conflict with anyone's religious or personal beliefs before going ahead. IF YOU HAVE ANY CONCERNS WITH EITHER OF THESE PROJECTS, PLEASE CONTACT ME VIA A NOTE OR EMAIL. If I do not get any notes by TONIGHT (SUNDAY), I will proceed with these plans. **Thank you!**Our topic this week was Thanksgiving.We started the week with coloring an early reader, I Give Thanks. Students are doing much better with the one to one touch and read, please continue to practice at home! We also worked on a missing number turkey and following color directions. Students are doing well with number words as well as ordinal (order) words. Keep practicing looking for numbers in the world around you and having those conversations with your child. **Studies show, the more authentic conversations and new vocabulary you introduce to your child, the higher reading they will have by third grade!** Keep talking and introducing and teaching when they ask questions!

We made books, We Like To, another early reader. Again, keep working on that pointing while reading!We made Thankerchiefs. This is a great game for the family at the Thanksgiving. Students decorated the chant, then put the chant on a tube. They then decorated their Thankerchief to put inside. We practiced the game with the class and spoke of the things that we are thankful for.We worked on putting the turkeys that matched the directional words in the right place. It is a tricky concept but we are getting it with practice. We are also building that vocabulary. Keep practicing!Finally, we wrapped up our projects, colored another easy reader, I am Thankful, and played Thanksgiving Bingo. Bingo works on listening skills, mulit-step directions, and it helps build new vocabulary for the students. It was a very busy week! I hope all of you enjoy your thanksgiving breaks and look forward to seeing all of you in December!Field Trip notes came home on last Thursday. We are going bowling and going to have a lot of fun using our gross motor and social skills! Please make sure you return the trip form, the money, and send your child dressed appropriately on Dec 5th. Please plan on your child being at school the normal times on this day. If you have any questions, concerns, or need some financial assistance in covering the trip cost, please let me or the office know.

Breakfast with Santa!

December is very busy!

Dec 5 Field Trip bowling

Dec 10 (am and pm showing) St. Edward Students will have their program on

Dec 11 St. Edward School has a half day (Extended day students will be done at 12:30)

Dec 12 Reading with the Stars (Dec 12)--A reader's theater style with all 4k students having "parts" and holiday snack.

Dec 14 Breakfast with Santa sponsored by play and grow (please get RSVPs in)

Dec 20 (Friday) last day of school before break

Important Notes:

Boy oh boy, did it get cold fast! Dress for the weather. Please send your child dressed for the weather as we go outside as long as it is not raining or below 0*(students are more than welcome to bring layers daily or to leave in their lockers) It may also be time to change out the change of clothes to make sure they are weather appropriate. If you send a new change of clothes, we will send the warm weather clothes in their backpacks.

Folders. Please be checking your child's daily folder each night. We put notes on the notebook pages in their folders as well as any notes we may have for you. Artwork is also sent home this way. As we start letter of the week, we will also start sending home homework to help reinforce the letter concept and identification. Please work on this with you child to help the students make the connection between home and school.

Also, Please check the student's Wednesday Folders. Please try to take info out and return the folder and any forms/info/payments in those folders a day or two after receiving.

Literacy Bags come home every three weeks. Students will have a week to complete the project inside and can then return the bag with completed sheets in it on TUESDAYS.

Library Books come every week. We go to library on Monday and student have the opportunity to check out a book and keep it for a week. It can be kept in their back packs or at home, but please remember to bring it on Mondays.

Book Order due December 6th (paper fliers came out, online available in the scholastic tab of the website: mrsgloudemans.wix.com/stedward). WE WILL NOT BE DOING ANOTHER ORDER IN DECEMBER BECAUSE THEY WILL NOT HAVE TIME TO GET THEM IN BEFORE THE HOLIDAYS.

PLEASE CONSIDER BOOK ORDER BOOKS FOR HOLIDAY GIFTS! Reading is a great gift to share with your child and others. If you purchase online, you also help our class to earn points to buy books for our room. IF YOU WANT BOOK ORDERS TO BE A GIFT, PLEASE LET ME KNOW AND I WILL WRAP THEM DISCREETLY AND GET THEM TO YOU SO THEY CAN BE A GIFT.

Send in those family photos!

Next Week:Theme: Winter, Elves, St. NickLetter of the Week: NnSnack: Mitchell Snack

About Me

I am recently married with a hilarious husband, a puggle named Pudge who not only lives up to his name, but is constantly a source of entertainment, a 4k teacher with 30 children that say the darnedest things, and a family that never stops making me laugh. Read along for a glimpse into the funny life I live.